Area sees large coaching turnover, fresh program

August 30, 2012

Seven area coaches will get brand new starts when the high school girls soccer season kicks off this weekend.

Article Photos

Mirror photo by Patrick WaksmunskiHollidaysburg’s Michele Muir is one of nine returning starters from a team that lost in the District 6 Class AAA quarterfinals.

One program is brand new altogether.

Central is fielding boys and girls soccer teams for the first time in school history, and Brad Reininger will coach the Lady Dragons in their first game on Tuesday night at Clearfield.

"It's an honor to be the first coach," Reininger said. "I graduated from Northern Bedford and was around when we first started. It meant a lot to get program started out there, so I know what it's like. It took a lot of effort on behalf of the kids that were interested in playing and the parents that went to the board meetings. It's very nice to see the kids have another option to play sports in the fall.

"Everybody's working hard and trying to progress as quickly as we can. I'm not sure what the competition is going to be like, but we should do alright this season."

"I think a couple of things are happening that I've noticed with girls programs," former Penn Cambria coach Tom Schmitt said. "The major thing, to stay competitive, more and more programs have to set up year-round programs. The coach has to do that and that is a much bigger commitment than other coaches have made in the past. I think a lot of coaches are burning out because of that. It takes a toll on them."

Possibly correlating to that, out of the 17 PIAA schools with girls soccer programs in the area, 15 have coaches entering at most their fifth season at the helm.

"It's different for every individual, but coaching just consumes a fair amout of time," Kalinouskas said. "A lot of times, family comes first.

"[For me, it's] love of the sport. I enjoy the game. I enjoy coaching."

More area teams landed in the postseason last year, but the success was mainly short-lived.

In District 6 Class AA, Central Cambria lost in the first round to Bald Eagle Area. Huntingdon defeated Cambria Heights, while Bedford fell short against Westmont Hilltop in the quarterfinals. The Bearcats fell to eventual champion Juniata in the semifinals.

Both Hollidaysburg and Altoona lost in the Class AAA quarterfinals.

District 5 didn't fare any better as Northern Bedford, Tussey Mountain and Everett each lost in the Class A quarterfinals.

"We lost a fair amount of players [from last year's team]," Kalinouskas said of his team's assessment. "We have a good number of players, but in terms of experience, we are a younger team. I don't know what to expect, but every practice we just have to continue to work hard and get better."

The following is a capsulized look at each of the teams in the Mirror coverage area with information as provided by the coaches:

Strengths: "We have most of our core back from last season. This is probably the most well-rounded team that I've coached to date. As a team, our technical ability is much more advanced than it was a year ago."

Concerns: "Finishing. In both of the past two seasons, out top goal scorer has graduated. Generating offense and finishing our chances has been our focal point and we're hoping that our preparation pays off as the season progresses."

Overall outlook: "My goal, as always, is for us to consistently play 80 minutes of highly-competitive, intense, possession-oriented soccer. Our focus this season is to get away from playing the direct style and complete the transition to becoming a possession-first type of team."

Concerns: "Staying healthy, playing aggressive and keeping up the intensity level."

Overall outlook: "After a year of training and dedication to the game, the core group of returnees has shown great improvements and have positive attitudes. With our diverse mix of experienced players on the field, I think it will be an exciting season."